Thunderbirds Series 1, Episode 9: Krakatoa
by SatNavDan
Summary: International Rescue find themselves having to deal with two separate situations following earthquakes caused by the erupting volcano on the island of Krakatoa. Whilst Thunderbirds 2 and 4 work to recover a trapped mini-sub, Thunderbird 1 must try and save a family trapped in a runaway balloon which is about to pass right over the volcano.
1. Pre-Titles

THE _Octopus_ was the most advanced oceanographic research vessel in the world. In the three years since it had been built, it had circumnavigated the globe visiting various countries and famous underwater landmarks including coral reefs, the Mariana Trench and also shipwrecks like the Titanic and the German battleship _Bismarck_. Of course, being a surface vessel, it couldn't actually go down to these places itself so the crew used a large mini-submersible called _Nemo_. Like the _Octopus_ , _Nemo_ was one of the most advanced mini-submersible ever created. To the crew, they believed that _Nemo_ was the most advanced in the world, but they weren't aware that on paper, there was another craft that was more advanced than it was.

Today, the _Octopus_ was in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. They were searching for the wreck of the Australian container ship _Brisbane_ which had been sunk during the Global Conflict of 2040. Although there was no official confirmation, it was believed that the ship had been carrying an illegal cargo of nuclear missiles. The reason for the doubt was that Australia hadn't declared war on any part of the country and had chosen to remain natural, but also there was doubt about the weapons as there'd been no massive explosion from the ship during or after it had sunk. In order to settle the minor dispute, the Australian government had commissioned the American-built _Octopus_ to locate the wreck-site of the Brisbane and use _Nemo_ and its robotic camera pods to survey the wreck and find out whether it really had been carrying weapons.

As the _Octopus_ made its way through the Sunda Strait, it sailed in a large box search pattern whilst its powerful sonar scanners mapped out the ocean floor to locate their target. On the bridge watching the sonar screens with Captain Mike Cross were deep-sea archaeologists Drs Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler. Between them they'd dived over one-hundred hours and visited over seventy different underwater sights over the past ten years. They were very experienced in their work and were ideally suited to the task that lay ahead of them.

Some searched for sunken ships could take hours, days or sometimes even weeks, but luckily for the crew of the _Octopus_ , they found what they were looking for in just under two hours since starting the search.

"There she is!" said Dr Grant. "That has to be the _Brisbane_."

"It's broken up but its roughly the same size and shape as that particular class of vessel," agreed Captain Cross.

"So what's our next move?" asked Dr Sattler.

"First, we'll drop anchor," said Captain Cross. "Then the crew will get Nemo ready for the dive. I'm sure one of you would be happy to join them down there?"

The two archaeologists looked at each other. Both were going to suggest that the other be the first to go down. However, Dr Grant decided to play it fair and use a coin to decide who went first. "Heads or tails?" he asked after he flipped the coin.

"Tails," said Dr Sattler.

Dr Grant removed his hand and looked. "It's heads," he said. "Sorry, Ellie."

But Dr Sattler wasn't disappointed. "Don't worry, Alan. I'll go down on the next dive," she said.

With that decided, Dr Grant went off to test his diving equipment whilst the crew began to prepare the large white mini-submersible for its first dive down to the wreck. Captain Cook moved the _Octopus_ to a safe distance before dropping the anchor. He didn't want to drop it onto the wreck and cause any unnecessary damage. After all, it was also a small graveyard as a large majority of the _Brisbane's_ crew had not survived the incident.

One hour after their arrival, the _Nemo_ and its crew were ready. Dr Sattler watched as Dr Grant climbed inside the mini-submersible along with its two operators. Once the hatch was closed there was no going back. Dr Grant felt a little uncomfortable. He was a man who preferred to explore in diving gear. He didn't really like being in vessels such as nemo. Despite it being big for a mini-sub, he still felt a little claustrophobic once inside.

After _Nemo_ had been attached the gantry cranes, it was rolled out of its little compartment located behind the main superstructure until it was over the gap in the stern. then it was gently lowered into the water to begin its dive. Dr Grant watched through one of the portholes as the dark blue waters turned black as they went deeper.

"Lights on!" said Manuel, _Nemo's_ chief operator.

Jenkins, the second operator complied and switched on _Nemo's_ powerful spotlights. Now everything in front of them was illuminated perfectly and soon they were approaching the ocean floor. The crane cables had been detached after it had been placed in the water and was moving under its own power. However, it still had an extending cable that kept it connected to the _Octopus_.

Dr Sattler and Captain Cross were on the bridge of the _Octopus_ monitoring _Nemo's_ progress.

" _Nemo_ , this is _Octopus_ , do you read me?" Captain Cross said into the radio.

"Roger, _Octopus_ ," answered Manuel. "We're coming up to the wreck now. Turning on the cameras."

The cameras sent live images back up to the screens on the _Octopus's_ bridge via the cable connecting the two together. Then they saw it – the vast shape of a ship appeared out of the darkness. It was definitely a container vessel.

" _Octopus_ , this is _Nemo_ – we've found the _Brisbane_!" said Manuel.

"Excellent news, _Nemo_ ," said Captain Cross. "Put her down on that outcrop of rock in front of you and send in the remote camera-bots."

Manuel guided _Nemo_ down and extended its legs before landing on the rock. "Well, Dr Grant – shall we proceed?" he asked.

"By all means," said Dr Grant.

But as Manuel and Jenkins got ready to activate the camera-bots, there was a deep rumble followed by a violent shudder from the seabed. The rock that _Nemo_ was perched on began to crack and the mini-submersible lurched suddenly over to the left. It was on the verge of toppling over.

" _Nemo_ , this is _Octopus_!" Captain Cross said urgently into the radio. "What's happening down there? _Nemo_ , come in! _NEMO_!"

5! (DUN)

4! (DUN)

3! (DUN)

2! (DUN)

1! (ROCKET IGNITES)

*Thunderbirds theme plays*

"THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!"


	2. Act I

THE underwater earthquake continued. The rock that _Nemo_ was standing on suddenly collapsed under its weight. Manuel, Jenkins and Dr Grant cried out as it rolled over throwing them around before coming to rest on the seabed less than twenty metres from the wreck of the _Brisbane_.

The quake lasted for just over thirty seconds and then subsided, but it already done the damage. _Nemo_ was stuck on its back with no means of righting itself. It had lost power and to make matters even worse, the cable connecting it to the _Octopus_ had been severed.

Aboard the _Octopus_ , the crew were running around like headless chickens trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

" _Nemo_ , this is _Octopus_ , are you receiving me? Over!" Captain Cross barked into the radio. "Manuel, do you read?"

He was then pushed aside by a frantic Dr Sattler. "Alan?" Dr Sattler cried into the radio microphone. "Alan, can you hear me? Alan, ANSWER ME!"

But there was no answer. The cable that connected the two vessels together was also their communication link, and it was broken.

One of the crewmen then came running onto the bridge. "Captain, the cable's broken!" he cried. "We're no longer connected to it!"

Dr Sattler burst into tears and fell to her knees. She was in love with Dr Grant and now it looked as though she'd lost him forever.

"Is there any way to reconnect it?" asked Captain Cross.

"No, sir," replied the crewman. "They're too deep for our regular swimsuits. And it'll take hours for another mini-sub to be shipped here."

"They don't have hours," said Captain Cross. "We need to help them now!"

The _Octopus's_ first officer had a suggestion. "Captain, why don't we call for International Rescue?" he said. "They'd get here a lot quicker than any other rescue team."

"Excellent idea, Matthews!" Captain Cross said approvingly. "Put out a call immediately!"

* * *

Thunderbird 5 was orbiting above the Pacific Ocean. Kerry, Katrina and Kaylee were all on duty when the call from the Octopus came through.

"Calling International Rescue! Calling International Rescue! This is research vessel _Octopus_ calling. Are you receiving? Over."

Katrina answered the call from her desk. "This is International Rescue. We're reading you loud and clear, _Octopus_. How can we help?"

"Our mini-submersible is trapped on the ocean floor following some kind of earthquake," Matthews explained. "The cable that connects us to it has been severed meaning we can't recover it or even make radio contact. It's also too deep for our divers to access. Can you help?"

"Of course we can," said Katrina. "What is your location?"

"Sunda Strait – off the west coast of Java," answered Matthews.

"Okay, sit tight – we'll be with you as soon as possible," Katrina said. She turned to Kerry and nodded.

Kerry nodded back. She had already pinpointed the _Octopus's_ position on the holo-globe by tracing the radio call. "This is going to have to be very quick," she said.

* * *

Kerry very quickly contact with Tracy Island and explained the situation to Daniel, Katie, Wizzy, Leanna, Rosie and Jodie.

"Are earthquakes even common in that area?" Daniel asked. "If they are, it's the first that I've heard of it."

"There have been on and off reports over the decades but no major damage has ever been caused that we know of," Kerry replied. "This must be a first."

"You'd better get going," Jodie said. "If they aren't able to contact the crew of the mini-sub there's no way of knowing what state they're in."

"Agreed," said Daniel. "Let's go, girls."

"What about Laura?" asked Leanna. "Should we wake her?"

"No, leave her to sleep, Leanna," Daniel replied. "We can handle this."

Katie, Rosie, Leanna and Wizzy hurried out of the lounge to make their way down to Thunderbird 2 whilst Daniel hurried over to the large rocket painting on the wall. He leant back against it and it began to tilt backwards sending him sliding down into a harness which took him down a long green tunnel. Robotic arms worked to attach his blue uniform with green utility sash as he went down. Once all that was complete, the rail his harness was on moved from the bottom side of the tunnel to the top side. Soon he reached Thunderbird 2's silo and swung down through the hatch in the top before closing the hatch behind him. He hurried to his seat and sat down before selecting Pod 4. The pod conveyor activated moving Pods 1, 2 and 3 underneath before stopping with Pod 4 underneath the main body. Once the pod was in position, the main body of Thunderbird 2 was lowered down onto it. Whilst all this had been going on, Katie, Wizzy, Leanna and Rosie had travelled down express elevators from the mansion to the silo and like Daniel had been changed into their uniforms on the way. They were now able to join Daniel in the cockpit and were ready to go. The rocks concealing the entrance to the hanger were lowered to allow Thunderbird 2 to taxi out onto the runway. As it came out, the palm trees were tilted back to allow it to pass. Soon it was on the launching ramp which lifted up into position. The wings folded out and the blast shield rose into place behind the rocket engines.

5…4…3…2…1!

The rocket engines fired and Thunderbird 2 lifted up off the ramp and into the clear, blue sky above Tracy Island.

"Thunderbirds are go!" said Daniel as they turned round and headed north-west towards Java. "Thunderbird 5, has there been any more news from the _Octopus_ , Kerry?"

"No, nothing," Kerry answered. "You know as much as we do, Daniel. Guess you won't find out the full extent of the situation until you get there."

"As soon as we get there, we'll drop the pod and then Wizzy can go down and take a look," said Daniel.

"F-A-B, Dad," said Wizzy. "I've been wanting to take Thunderbird 4 out for a while now."

"What are you talking about?" asked Katie. "You took her on a round trip of the island last week!"

"I meant on a mission," Wizzy replied, sounding slightly indignant.

"Well, your wish will come true very shortly, Wizzy," said Daniel. "ETA to danger zone in thirteen minutes."

* * *

Inside the _Nemo_ , Dr Grant and the two operators were regaining consciousness. All three had been knocked out after the mini-submersible had overturned. Luckily there was no breach in the hull so they were still able to breathe and weren't in any immediate danger of drowning.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Dr Grant.

"Been better," replied Manuel.

"Ouch, my head!" moaned Jenkins. "What happened?"

"Some kind of quake," said Manuel. "I think that rock we were on must have collapsed and tipped us over."

Dr Grant quickly grabbed the radio microphone. "This is Dr Grant calling _Octopus_. Do you read me? Captain Cross, are you receiving me? Over."

There was no reply.

"The radio's dead," said Manuel. "The cable must be damaged – or worse."

"Worse?" asked Dr Grant.

"He means broken, Doctor," said Jenkins. "A fall like that would most likely have caused the cable to snap."

Dr Grant tried to keep the fear growing inside him hidden. "But…that means that we can't get out of here?"

"Nope," said Manuel. "I'm afraid not, Doctor. And they can't get down here either. It's too deep for frogmen."

"So…what are we going to do?" asked Dr Grant.

"What do we do?" asked Jenkins. "What can we do? We wait for them to get help down to us."

"Well how long's that going to take?" asked Dr Grant. "How much oxygen do we have left?"

Manuel looked up at the gauges on the control panels. "About two hours before the supply runs out," he said. "That's assuming that the tanks are still intact."

"And if they're not?" asked Dr Grant.

"Well…" Manuel paused. "Let's try and stay positive, shall we?"

Dr Grant couldn't see how they could remain positive in a situation like this, but he didn't see that they had any other options.

* * *

On the bridge of the _Octopus_ , Dr Sattler was starting to get hysterical. "But, Captain – why can't we dive down there?"

"You know full well why we can't, Doctor!" Captain Cross snapped. "It's too deep! The pressure would crush the divers. You of all people should know that!"

Dr Sattler glared at him furiously. "If anything happens to Alan, I swear that I will…"

"Captain!" called Matthews.

"What is it?" asked Captain Cross, glad that Dr Sattler had been silenced.

Matthews was standing on the starboard wing of the bridge looking towards the stern through his binoculars. "Aircraft approaching from the south-west. I think it might be International Rescue."

Captain Cross hurried out onto the bridge wing and looked through his own binoculars. He could see a large green aircraft coming towards them. it was flying low over the sea towards them. "Yes, it is!" he said happily. "Wow – they got here quick!"

From within the cockpit of Thunderbird 2, the crew could see their objective in the distance.

"There's the _Octopus_!" Leanna said.

"Wow – she's a nice-looking vessel!" said Rosie.

"State-of-the-art," Daniel said. "Got a highly experienced crew and also the second-most advanced deep-sea mini-submersible on the planet."

"Second best?" asked Katie. "Who's got the most advanced then?"

Daniel looked at Katie with raised eyebrows. "Do you really need to ask?" he said. He then looked at Wizzy.

"Yeah, come on, Katie!" agreed Wizzy, pushing her sister's head as she got up. "The most advanced mini-submersible in the world is down in the pod."

Katie went red as Rosie and Leanna both laughed. Daniel was amused, but he didn't laugh quite as hard as they did.

Wizzy left the cockpit and headed down to Thunderbird 4 whilst Thunderbird 2 came down and began to hover close to the _Octopus_.

" _Octopus_ this is International Rescue Thunderbird 2 – are you receiving?" Daniel said into the radio.

Captain Cross grabbed the radio microphone. "Thunderbird 2, this is Captain Cross of the _Octopus_. Boy, are we glad to see you!"

"Any update on your situation, Captain?" Daniel asked.

"None at all, I'm afraid," replied Captain Cross grimly. "All we know is that the cable that connects _Nemo_ to us is broken. That seaquake must've done something to it that caused it to break."

"Don't worry, Captain," said Daniel. "We'll launch Thunderbird 4 to go and see what's happened. Once we know then we can decide a course of action." He then changed frequencies. "Are you ready, Wizzy?"

"Ready, Dad," Wizzy replied from the cockpit of Thunderbird 4.

Daniel nodded to Katie. "Releasing docking clamp," she said.

Having moved Thunderbird 2 to a safe distance from the _Octopus_ , Katie let Pod 4 drop down onto the surface of the sea. once the door had opened, the ramp that Thunderbird 4 sat up tilted forwards and extended outwards. Wizzy then started up the engines and slid down the ramp into the water.

"Thunderbird 4 is go!" said Wizzy once the little yellow submersible was launched.

"Thunderbird 4, this is Thunderbird 5," Kerry said over the radio. "Be careful down there, Wizzy – there are a lot of obstructions."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 5," replied Wizzy. "Thanks, Kerry."

There was nothing for the crews of Thunderbird 2 or the _Octopus_ to do but wait for Wizzy to report back. Daniel had allowed the radio feed to be put through to the _Octopus_ so that Captain Cross and Dr Sattler could also hear what was being said.

* * *

Laura had been sleeping longer than she had done in months. When she woke up she felt refreshed and relaxed. She got up and drew back her curtains. The beautiful sight of the sun glinting off the water never failed to raise her spirits. "Just another beautiful day in the Pacific," Laura remarked out loud.

Laura got herself dressed and exited her bedroom. She walked along the landing and headed down the stairs to join Jodie and Joanne in the lounge. Beth and Adrienne were down by the pool with Sian and Cassidy. Laura sniffed the air. She could smell bacon cooking from the kitchen meaning Zoë was busy cooking.

"Hello, sweetie," Zoë said when Laura walked in.

"Morning, Grandma," Laura replied. "Is this breakfast or lunch?"

"The majority is for lunch," Zoë replied. "However, I've saved the last load of the breakfast stuff for you." She then produced a hot plate of bacon, eggs, sausages, beans and mushrooms before adding two slices of toast. "There you go," she said. "Get that down you."

Laura smiled. "Thanks," she said going over to the table to eat. As she munched on her food, she saw Beth running around the pool giving Cassidy a piggyback. She was also quick to notice that it was just her and Adrienne who was with the O'Connor girls. Katie and Wizzy were not.

Once Laura had finished her late breakfast, she left the kitchen and entered the lounge.

"Morning, Laura," said Joanne. "You sleep okay?"

"Like a log," Laura replied. She glanced around. "Where's Dad?" she asked.

"He's out on a mission," said Jodie.

Laura blinked. "Really? Why wasn't I woken up?"

"He wanted you to rest," said Jodie. "You had quite a long day yesterday."

Laura understood that, but secretly she was a little annoyed at having been left out. "Where's the mission?" she asked.

Jodie showed Laura a hologram image of the scene. "They're out in the Sunda Strait near Java," she explained. "Thunderbird 5 received a mayday call from the research ship _Octopus_ saying that their mini-submersible had been caught in what they believed was an underwater earthquake. The cable that connects the two has been severed meaning they can't recover the submersible or even make contact with the crew inside."

"Oh, blimey!" exclaimed Laura. "What have they found?"

"They've only got there a few minutes ago, Laura," said Joanne. "Wizzy's taking Thunderbird 4 down to have a look."

Laura looked back down at the hologram image. It showed the positions of Thunderbirds 2 and 4 plus the _Octopus_. "I hope the guys in that submersible are okay," she said quietly to herself.

* * *

Thunderbird 4 had now arrived at the ocean floor and began searching the area. It was very dark so she was glad to have the powerful searchlights of Thunderbird 4 to help light the way. "Okay, guys, where are you?" Wizzy asked out loud to herself. Then the radar began to beep as it had detected something ahead. Wizzy moved Thunderbird 4 into position and the lights now illuminated the stricken _Nemo_ close to the wreck of the _Brisbane_. "Bingo!" said Wizzy triumphantly.


	3. Act II

The _Nemo_ did not appear to be in as bad a state as Wizzy had first feared. "Okay, I've found it," she said into her radio.

"How does it look?" asked Daniel.

"Like a tortoise on its back," Wizzy replied, which sent chills down the spines of Captain Cross, Dr Sattler and the rest of the bridge crew. "It's lying upside down and the cable's definitely severed. It's not going to be easy to get it upright."

"But you can recover it, can't you?" asked Captain Cross.

"Yes, Captain, we can," Wizzy said. "Although I may need some assistance from Thunderbird 2 to get it back to the surface."

"Not a problem," said Daniel. "See if you can establish radio contact with the crew in there. Might be a good idea to let them know that help has arrived."

"F-A-B," said Wizzy. "I'll use a conductive amplifier." She pressed a button which fired a small yellow missile-like device from the front of Thunderbird 4. The device then attached itself to the _Nemo_.

Dr Grant, Jenkins and Manuel jumped slightly when they heard a faint clunk on the side of the vessel.

"What was that?" Dr Grant asked.

"Sounded like something attached itself to the hull," said Manuel.

"Impossible!" said Jenkins. "There can't be anyone out there. There's no way they'd be able to get a second submersible here so quickly!"

Their answer came moments later when the radio suddenly crackled into life. "This is International Rescue Thunderbird 4 calling _Nemo_. _Nemo_ , do you read me?"

Manuel grabbed the radio microphone. "This is _Nemo_. Receiving you loud and clear International Rescue. Where are you?"

"Right beside you," said Wizzy. "Your vessel is upside down but it appears to still be intact. Do you instruments tell you of anything wrong?"

"That's a negative," said Manuel. "Only thing that we know isn't working is our communication link to the Octopus."

"But then how come can you get through to us?" Dr Grant asked.

"If you heard a clunk before I started speaking, that was the conductive amplifier that it fired from my craft," said Wizzy. "It'll enable you to talk to me, but not to anyone else I'm afraid. However, they are listening in so if there's any messages you want to pass on then now's the best time."

Dr Grant took the microphone from Manuel. "This is Dr Grant. Ellie, if you can hear me? I love you."

Dr Sattler burst into tears again, but this time with joy. At least she knew now that he was alive. The message however took everyone else by surprise. They had no idea that the two archaeologists were in a relationship together.

"Okay then," said Daniel, breaking the awkward silence. "We'd best get to work. Just tell us when you need us, Thunderbird 4."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 2," replied Wizzy. "Activating the robotic arms!" After moving some levers, the two robotic arms folded out from underneath Thunderbird 4 and were ready for use. Wizzy then began to move her craft slowly forwards toward _Nemo_. As she'd said, the submersible looked to be intact and she didn't want to be the one to jeopardise the safety of the crew inside.

* * *

The Second Bank of London was closed for the night. It was approaching midnight and the streets outside the bank were quiet. At least for the moment they were. But that was about to change.

Deep inside the bank, an air vent grate loosened and fell off its mounting. Parker then emerged from within the grate followed by Lady Penelope. They were now standing on a balcony overlooking the main area. They had a perfect view of the cashier tills and down to the main vault.

"Are you sure this is the place, Parker?" Penelope asked in a quiet voice.

"Quite sure, m'lady," Parker replied. "H'old 'Fingers' Fred was very confident that this would be their target."

At that moment, Penelope put her arm on Parker to keep him quiet for she had spotted movement down below. Looking over the edge of the balcony, they could see three men armed with guns moving towards the main vault. All were wearing smart suits and had a strange black skull-shaped mask over their faces. They moved quickly up to the vault gate and placed what appeared to be explosives on it.

"Blow it!" one of the men shouted. They took cover just as the explosive device detonated, blowing the gate open. the bank alarm began ringing and orange lights flashed. Moments later, there was a loud crashing sound as a bright yellow dustcart drove backwards through the doors. Two more men jumped out from the cab and ran to join the others. They were grabbing money bags and were going to load up the dustcart with the contents of the bank.

"Well, Parker, we need to do something about this, wouldn't you say?" said Penelope.

"H'indeed, m'lady," agreed Parker. "That h'alarm should cover the sound of our h'attacks so we 'ave no need to be quiet."

"Exactly," said Penelope. She jumped over the safety bar and dropped down to the floor below. Parker followed and they concealed themselves behind different pillars. As one man ran past carrying a bag of money, Penelope used her grapple gun to grab him by the leg and pulled him over to her before she knocked him out with the heel of her boot.

"Hey, who's there?!" shouted another of the men hurrying over. He hadn't seen Penelope but had seen his colleague get pulled aside. As he ran over, Parker did the same trick with his own grapple gun, pulling the man round and elbowing him to the ground.

They then split up as they went to take down the remaining men. Penelope jumped down into a floor grate and kept herself hidden whilst Parker hurried over to a nearby booth where another man was emptying the draws of cash inside. Seeing that the man was distracted, Parker pulled out his small pistol and fired at a nearby fire extinguisher. It burst and released a cloud of foam gas into the room engulfing the unsuspecting man inside it.

"What the…?!" the man coughed and spluttered. He dropped the cashbox on his foot and yelped. Parker seized his chance and ran into the room. He grabbed the man and took him down before he had a chance to realise what was happening.

This only left two men to deal with. One was by the dustcart putting the bags they'd already collected into the back whilst the other was getting some more bags out of the vault. Neither of them had realised that their colleagues had been taken out. The first they knew of anything was when Penelope leapt out from the floor grate and grabbed hold of the man running from the vault. Within seconds she'd got him on the ground and unconscious.

"What?!" exclaimed the one remaining man. Unlike the others, he hadn't got a gun so was unable to threaten Penelope and Parker. He quickly realised he was alone as the others had all been taken out. "This wasn't part of the plan!"

Before Penelope and Parker could stop him, the man had run and scrambled into the cab of the dustcart. He slammed it into gear and raced out of the bank. They hurried after him through the smashed-up doors but he was already halfway down the road by the time they got outside.

"Oh, blast!" grumbled Parker. "We've lost 'im, m'lady!"

"Not yet we haven't!" Penelope said. "Quickly – the car!"

Parker used the remote control on his keys to call FAB1 which was parked out of sight behind the bank. When it arrived, they hastily got in and raced off after the dustcart. They hoped they'd be able to catch up before he got too far ahead.

* * *

Wizzy's attempts to get _Nemo_ the right way up was going a lot better than she had expected. Despite its size, she was able to slowly move it a bit at a time using the robotic arms of Thunderbird 4. And soon she'd got it standing on its feet.

"Done it!" Wizzy said. "The submersible is the right way up again. Going to need your help now, Thunderbird 2."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 4," said Daniel. "We're right above you. Locking cable-trackers, and…go!"

The four magnetic cable clamps were fired from Thunderbird 2 which locked themselves onto the hull of _Nemo_. Now Thunderbird 2 would be able to use its pulling power to help Thunderbird 4 bring it back up to the surface.

"Thunderbird 4 to _Nemo_. We're going to bring you up slowly," said Wizzy. "How's your oxygen supply?"

"Still good for another ninety minutes," answered Manuel.

"Plenty of time," said Wizzy. "It won't take us that long to get you up."

"We hope," Katie muttered so that nobody could hear.

"Ready, Thunderbird 2?" asked Wizzy.

"Ready, Thunderbird 4," Daniel replied.

"Okay," said Wizzy. "On my mark. Three, two, one!"

Katie and Daniel began to reel in the winches on the cables whilst Wizzy slowly released some ballast from Thunderbird 4's tanks so that it could slowly rise up taking _Nemo_ with it.

"Easy does it," said Daniel. "Easy."

On Tracy Island, Laura, Joanne and Jodie were watching the movements on the holo-map. Kerry was also watching from Thunderbird 5.

"That's it, you're doing it!" said Jodie. "Careful now."

But suddenly, there was a deep rumble and everything around Thunderbird 4 and _Nemo_ started shaking.

"Oh, no – it's happening again!" cried Jenkins.

"International Rescue, get us out of here!" yelled Dr Grant. "There's another seaquake!"

"Yeah, I've noticed!" Wizzy yelled back. "Woah – hang on!"

Cracks began appearing in the ocean floor releasing large air bubbles. Some of the large rocks nearby crumbled and collapsed. One small piece almost landed on the port turbine of Thunderbird 4 but luckily it just missed.

Two of the cables detached from _Nemo_ which added more weight to Thunderbird 4. Wizzy had to push both the turbines of her craft to their limit in order to keep it steady.

Then, almost as quickly as it had started, the powerful earthquake subsided and the surface of the water was calm again.

"Thunderbird 4, are you okay?" asked Daniel.

"Yes, I'm fine," Wizzy replied. "Phew, that was tense!"

"Are the crew okay?" asked Captain Cross from the _Octopus_.

"Thunderbird 4 to _Nemo_ – you okay in there?"

"Yeah, just about," answered Manuel.

"Please get us out of here," said Dr Grant. "I'm not feeling very well."

"Hold on, Doctor, two of the cables have come loose," said Daniel. "We're going to have to fire them again."

After winding the two cables back into Thunderbird 2, Daniel realigned them and fired again. They successfully reattached to _Nemo_ and the lifting began again.

"Thunderbird 5, can you run a seismic analysis of that quake and find out where the epicentre was?" asked Daniel.

"Already done," answered Kerry. "There's an island located dead centre of the Sunda Strait. It appears to have originated from there."

"Must be that one over there," said Leanna, pointing to the distant shape of a mountainous island in the distance.

"How far away is that?" asked Rosie.

Daniel checked the radar. "It's about eight miles away," he said. "Once we're done here we'll go over and check it out."

* * *

One of the best ways to see the coastline of Java was by balloon. Located in several places along the coast were some special speedboat-hauled balloon rides. These were basically hot-air balloons but were attached via a strong cable to a speedboat. The boat would travel along the coastline at a safe distance whilst tourists would travel in the balloon's basket. It was an attraction that had been going for a few years now and there had been no incidents at all

The Harding family of Seattle were on vacation in Java and had decided to take a ride along the west coast in one of these balloon rides. Homer Harding, his wife Marge and their children Bart, Lisa and baby Maggie were having the time of their lives seeing the incredible scenery as the speedboat towed them at a gentle pace along the coast.

"Gosh, Homer, look at those rocks!" gasped Marge. "Oh, honey, thank you for booking this. It's so amazing!"

"Well, this is the best fun we've had for ages," agreed Homer.

Lisa and Maggie appeared to be enjoying the ride as well. But Bart clearly wasn't. he stood on the opposite side of the basket looking out at the empty ocean.

"Dad, this is boring!" he complained. "Can we go surfing now?"

"You went surfing yesterday, boy!" snapped Homer.

"And I want to go again!" complained Bart.

"Bart, will you just be quiet!" said Marge angrily. "Honestly, why can you never be happy when we go on vacation?"

"Because we never do the things that _I_ want to do!" Bart said. He turned his back on the others and sulked.

"Leave him, Mom," said Lisa. "Let's just enjoy the scenery."

Marge smiled. "Yes, honey, let's do that."

"Let us pretend that Bart isn't even here," agreed Homer, which made Bart turn red with fury.

As Bart continued to sulk, he noticed something in the distance. He could see what looked to be a large aircraft hovering low over the sea close to another vessel. "Hey, Dad, there's something going on over there!" Bart called.

Homer turned round and was about to snap at his son again when he noticed them too. "Ooh," he said. "You're right, son. I wonder what that is?"

Marge and Lisa turned round and came over with Marge carrying Maggie. Lisa had a pair of binoculars which she used to look over at the aircraft and ship.

"Oh, my Gosh!" she gasped excitedly. "Bart, it's a Thunderbird!"

Bart snatched the binoculars off his younger sister and looked. Sure enough, he could just make out the large white number 2 on the tail section of the hovering green goliath. "It is!" he exclaimed. "Oh, boy, now this is more like it! Can we go over and see what they're doing?"

"Of course we can't, Bart," said Marge. "They're probably in the middle of saving someone's life. They are not going to want us interfering."

But Homer was already calling down to the guide on the towing speedboat. "HEY, MIGUEL! THERE'S A THUNDERBIRD CRAFT OVER THERE! LET'S GO FOR A CLOSER LOOK!"

"RIGHT YOU ARE!" shouted Miguel the guide. He then spoke in his native language to the driver of the boat who turned it and the balloon out to sea heading for where Thunderbird 2 and the _Octopus_ were.

* * *

Thunderbirds 2 and 4 were slowly getting _Nemo_ and its occupants closer to the surface after starting the lift again. They hoped that they wouldn't have any additional complications.

"Almost there," said Daniel. "Steady as she goes, girls."

"Steady as she goes," said Katie.

"Steady as she goes," said Wizzy.

Leanna and Rosie couldn't do a lot but sit and watch. But then Leanna spotted something. "Err, guys…there's something coming towards us."

Daniel, Katie and Rosie looked over at where Leanna was pointing. They could see the bright orange canopy of the balloon heading in their direction with the speedboat out in front.

"What the hell is that?" asked Katie.

Daniel looked through his long-range binoculars. "Oh, for crying out loud!" he said crossly. "It's one of those coastal excursion boat-hauled balloon rides! They must have spotted us and come out to see what we're doing."

"They could make things tricky for us," said Rosie.

"Could, Rosie?" Daniel asked. "They _will_!" He then spoke into the radio. " _Octopus_ , we've got some uninvited guests heading our way. Can you get rid of them, please?"

"We can see them," answered Captain Cross. "Leave it to us." He picked up a megaphone and called out to the speedboat and balloon. "AHOY THERE! THIS AREA IS UNDER QUARANTINE! YOU CAN'T COME ANY CLOSER! TURN AROUND NOW!"

"Ignore them!" Homer said to his family. He then pulled out a video camera and called down to the boat. "GET IN CLOSER! I NEED TO RECORD THIS!"

"They're not turning round," Katie said. "What the hell are they playing at?"

"Leanna, switch on the anti-camera device," Daniel said. "I don't want them taking any photos or video of what we're doing."

"F-A-B," said Leanna flicking a switch.

Suddenly, Kerry appeared over the radio. She was looking rather concerned. "Thunderbirds 2 and 4, you've got a problem!"

"Yeah, we know," said Daniel. "Stupid tourists in a boat-hauled balloon!"

"Not them!" Kerry cried. "Look towards the island!"

They did so and gasped. Their eyes widened in alarm.

"What is it?" asked Wizzy over the radio.

"Oh, shit the bed!" Daniel exclaimed. " _Octopus_ , there's a tsunami approaching! You need to turn your ship round to face into it!"

Captain Cross, Dr Sattler and the rest of the _Octopus_ crew had already seen the tsunami and were already powering up the engines.

"HARD A-PORT!" yelled Captain Cross. "ALL AHEAD FULL!"

"WHAT ABOUT ALAN AND THE OTHERS?!" cried Dr Sattler.

"INTERNATIONAL RESCUE HAVE GOT THEM, DR SATTLER!" the Captain shouted. "NOW, HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!"

The _Octopus_ turned quickly round to face the approaching tsunami. It wasn't a big one but they didn't want to risk it being capsized by it. Thunderbirds 2 and 4 had had to stop. Although it wouldn't affect Thunderbird 4 and Nemo much, it might cause problems for Thunderbird 2's cables.

As the wave got closer, Rosie glanced back out towards the speedboat and the balloon. They were still coming closer to them. "Are they crazy?" Rosie cried. "Don't they know what's happening?!"

It didn't look as though they did.

"Almost there," Homer said to Bart. "Get ready to take lots of pictures, son."

"Don't you worry, Dad," said Bart raising his camera phone towards Thunderbird 2. "I'll be sure to take…AAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH! TIDAL WAVE!"

The others turned and gasped. Miguel and the boat driver then noticed the wave as well. Miguel shouted in his native language and the driver spun the wheel hard to the left. But it was too late. The wave struck the speedboat, the _Octopus_ and the cables of Thunderbird 2 at exactly the same time. All three were knocked about. The same two cables broke away from Nemo again along with a third. The mini-sub lurched and Wizzy had to push Thunderbird 4's engines even harder than before to stop it from falling back down.

It lasted only a few seconds, but it seemed a lot longer before the waves calmed down. Thunderbird 4 had saved _Nemo_ from falling and the _Octopus_ had been able to ride over the waves without being capsized.

"You okay down there, Wizzy?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah," Wizzy replied. " _Nemo_ , everyone okay?"

A loud retching sound answered. Somebody had just been sick.

"Dr Grant just made mess in here," answered Manuel.

"Eww!" Leanna remarked.

Kerry appeared on the holo-screen again. "Guys, I'm not getting any signs of the speedboat and balloon," she said. "Do you have visual?"

Daniel and the girls looked across. They gasped. They could see the balloon was much further round than it had been before and appeared to be moving away. But the speedboat was nowhere to be seen.


	4. Act III

Concern gripped the International Rescue team like a tight noose of rope.

"Oh, no!" Rosie gasped. "The tsunami must've destroyed the tow-cable!"

Aboard the _Octopus_ , Captain Cross had spotted two men in the water. "They must be from that speedboat. Matthews, launch a boat! Get them out of there!"

"Sir!" acknowledged Matthews as he and two other crewmen raced to launch one of the dinghies.

"Then that balloon's drifting away!" said Katie. "We have to do something."

"We can't!" said Daniel. "We've still got this submersible to recover!" He quickly realigned the cables and fired them down onto Nemo again.

Kerry then managed to locate the balloon on the holo-map. "I've got it," she said. "It's being carried away by the wind towards the same island."

"Maybe they can land it on there," said Daniel. "As soon as we've got _Nemo_ aboard the _Octopus_ we'll go after them."

But Leanna had noticed something else. "Oh, great!" she said. "Now there's a big fire burning on that island!"

"A fire?" asked Katie. "But that island's not populated, is it?"

Daniel looked across towards the island. Leanna was right, there was a thin column of smoke rising from the mountain on the south end. He began to get a rather uneasy feeling in his stomach. It looked as though the balloon was being carried straight towards it. "Thunderbird 5, can you scan that island again?" he asked. "Focus on that southern-most mountain."

Kerry did so, and discovered something rather alarming. "Woah!" she said. "There's a vast amount of heat coming from right underneath that mountain. The temperature is colossal!"

Daniel and Katie looked anxiously at each other.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Daniel.

"Volcano?" Katie asked.

"It is!" Kerry said. "And there's more. That's not just any volcano. That's Krakatoa – and according to these readings, it's going to erupt!"

"Krakatoa!" exclaimed Laura. "Kerry, are you certain?!"

"Affirmative," said Kerry. "And it looks like that balloon's heading straight for it."

"And Thunderbird 2's too busy with that mini-submersible!" added Jodie.

Laura jumped up from her seat and headed towards the wall panel with the two lamps next to the portraits. "Tell Dad to focus on the submersible," she said. "I'll go after the balloon!"

After pulling down the lamps and using them as safety-bars, the wall turned around taking Laura to the express elevator that would take her down to Thunderbird 1's silo. Once she was standing on it, the elevator began to descend turning clockwise as it did so. As it headed down, robotic arms worked to get Laura into her uniform and by the time they'd finished, the elevator had reached the bottom of the shaft. The doors then opened and Laura walked out onto the extending walkway to her craft. Once it reached the pilot seat it came to a stop so that Laura could climb into it. A retractable winch then brought her and the chair into the cockpit whilst the hatch sealed and the walkway moved back. The trolley that Thunderbird 1 stood on now started to move from the silo up the diagonal tunnel to the launch bay underneath the swimming pool. Joanne had already got Beth, Adrienne, Cassidy and Sian indoors to keep them safe whilst Thunderbird 1 launched. Soon the trolley reached the end of its run just as the pool had finished opening.

5…4…3…2…1!

The engines of Thunderbird 1 roared into life and it rose gracefully out of the opening before rocketing up into the sky. Just as usual, the force from the engines pushed the sun-beds away from the pool meaning they would need to be put back again.

"Thunderbird 1 is away!" said Laura as her rocket soared upwards from the island like a bullet from a gun. "Changing to horizontal flight. Jodie, get in touch with Dad and let him know that I'll be there in seven minutes."

"F-A-B, Laura," Jodie replied. "Good luck."

"Let's hope she can get there in time," said Joanne.

"If anything can get there in time, it'll be Thunderbird 1," said Jodie sounding confident.

* * *

Locating the dustcart wasn't difficult for FAB1. However, Penelope and Parker decided to keep a safe distance whilst they were still in London. Luckily for them, the driver was heading out of the city onto even quieter roads which would make taking his heavy vehicle on a lot more safely than doing it in the city would have been. For starters there wouldn't be any witnesses or bystanders who'd get hurt.

"Do you reckon 'e's realised that we're h'on 'is tail, m'lady?" Parker asked.

"No, he'd be going a lot faster if he had," Penelope said. "However, now that we're in a much quieter area, maybe now's the time to show ourselves?"

"Right away, m'lady," said Parker. He increased FAB1's speed and steadily began to close in on the dustcart.

The driver was oblivious that he was being followed. He was currently on the phone to his boss. "I had to run for it, boss," he was saying. "Some blonde woman and an old geezer were waiting for us!"

"WHAT?!" roared the voice of the boss on the other end of the phone. "ARE YOU SAYING YOU LEFT THE OTHERS BEHIND?!"

"They took them out, boss!" cried the driver. "I had to get away before they did the same to me!"

"GET BACK HERE WITH WHATEVER LOOT YOU MANAGED TO COLLECT BEFORE THEY TURNED UP!" shouted the boss. "AND IF I EVER FIND OUT WHO THOSE TWO ARE, I WILL HAVE THEM HUNTED DOWN AND KILLED!"

The driver put the phone down on the dashboard and then realised there was a vehicle closing in rapidly behind him. Going by the speed, it had to be a Police Car he thought. Panicking, he accelerated the dustcart to its full speed in an attempt to try and escape. But FAB1 was capable of much greater speeds than the dustcart could and was able to keep up.

"I think he's spotted us, Parker," said Penelope. "Not that I don't enjoy these little chases, but let's get it over with quickly."

"Yus, m'lady," said Parker. He used FAB1's targeting computer to lock onto the underbelly of the dustcart before firing a magnetic mine from behind the front bumper. The device attached itself to the bottom of the dustcart underneath the rear axle. When the mine exploded, it flipped the dustcart up into the air causing it to completely overturn and land upside down. It skidded along the road for about thirty yards before coming to a stop.

Parker stopped FAB1 about ten yards from the upturned vehicle before he and Penelope stepped out. They walked slowly towards the dustcart where they found the driver trying to crawl away. He was clearly in pain having been injured. In his haste to leave the bank, he'd forgotten to put his seatbelt on.

As he crawled slowly along the ground, the driver found himself looking at a pair of black leather boots and a pair of black man's shoes. Slowly looking up, he then saw who they belonged to. "Y-you?!" he gasped. "B-b-but how?"

"Relax, we're not going to hurt you," said Penelope. "All we want to know is who you work for."

"Well I ain't telling you that!" said the driver.

Penelope looked at Parker and nodded. Parker then cracked his knuckles making the driver quiver.

* * *

Thunderbirds 2 and 4 had almost got the _Nemo_ back to the surface. Wizzy could see the shape of Thunderbird 2 hovering above them through the water.

"We're almost there, _Nemo_ ," Wizzy said. " _Octopus_ , you'd better get ready to receive _Nemo_."

"Roger," replied Captain Cross. "We've just collected the two men from the speedboat. Coming over to you now."

Dr Sattler watched as the white shape of _Nemo_ and the yellow shape of Thunderbird 4 began to emerge from beneath the surface. The crew of the _Octopus_ erupted into cheers and applause.

"Nice work, Thunderbird 4," Daniel said. "We'll take it from here."

As Thunderbird 4 detached from _Nemo_ , Thunderbird 2 began to lift it out of the water whilst the _Octopus_ reversed towards them. the crew were rushing around on the deck making preparations for it to be loaded back on.

* * *

The Harding family had only just realised what had happened and had been waving and shouting at International Rescue to come and help them.

"What are they doing?" asked Lisa. "Why aren't they coming to help us?"

"Cause they're too busy fishing, that's why!" said Homer, looking bitterly at the _Nemo_ which was now being carried through the air by Thunderbird 2.

A loud rumble made them jump and look around. They were getting closer to the island and they could see the smoke rising from the top of the volcano.

"Dad, Mom, are we heading for that?" asked Bart.

"Yes, Bart, we are," said Marge. "And there's nothing we can do about it!"

Krakatoa rumbled again and a few hot ashes come out the top. The smoke started to get thicker. It could only be a matter of minutes before it erupted.

As Thunderbird 2 eased _Nemo_ towards the _Octopus_ , the sound of another aircraft filled the air.

"Sorry, I'm late, Thunderbird 2," said a familiar voice over the radio.

Daniel, Rosie, Leanna, Katie and Wizzy all looked round and watched with delight as Thunderbird 1 raced past them.

"Thunderbird 1, glad you could make it," said Daniel. "Make it quick though. I'm not sure how long until Krakatoa awakens."

"Hopefully long enough," said Laura. She pointed her craft in the direction of the island and raced towards the volcano.

The balloon was just crossing over the beach on the south-east corner of the island. The wind was now starting to lift it upwards directly towards the crater.

Maggie, who was too young to speak yet, began pointing.

"What is it, Maggie dear?" asked Marge. Then she looked in the direction that Maggie was pointing. "Hey, there's another aircraft coming towards us!"

Homer, Lisa and Bart turned round to see Thunderbird 1 approaching them. they all (except for Maggie) began shouting and waving to get Laura's attention.

"I see them," Laura said as she brought Thunderbird 1 in to hover. "This isn't going to be easy though. Jodie, how's the best way for me to get them to safety?"

"There's a loop mounted right on the top of the canopy," Jodie answered. She was looking at the schematics of the balloon. "Attach your towing cable to that and then gently guide it away. Not too fast or you might rip it to pieces!"

"Understood," said Laura. "Going in now."

As Thunderbird 1 moved into position above the balloon, Laura could see down into the crater of the volcano. There was a great pool of burning lava visible inside. The Hardings could now see it too and they were scared. The lava was bubbling ferociously like a witch's cauldron and the rumbling was getting louder.

After opening the bottom hatch of Thunderbird 1, Laura got ready to fire the grappling cable onto the top of the balloon. But before she could, a sudden gust of wind pushed the balloon right over the crater. If the basket were to suddenly detach, there would be nothing that Laura could do to save the family.

"HURRY!" Homer yelled up to Thunderbird 1.

"Come on, come on!" Laura muttered to herself. She managed to secure a lock-on and fired the cable. It successfully connected with the loop on the top of the canopy without any trouble at all. "Gotcha!" said Laura. "Hang on, guys. I'm getting you out of here!"

* * *

Thunderbird 2 had managed to get _Nemo_ safely back aboard the _Octopus_. Dr Sattler was there as a rather ill-looking Dr Grant was helped out of the submersible.

"ALAN!" Dr Sattler cried happily as she threw her arms around him. "Oh, thank goodness!"

Dr Grant hardly noticed this at all. His face was green and looked like he was going to be sick again. "I'm never going down without my gear again," he groaned.

Thunderbird 4 was now being winched back into Pod 4 as Thunderbird 2 came back over. Now that the submersible and its crew were safe, they could now turn their attention to the runaway balloon.

"Thunderbird 1, what's your progress?" asked Daniel.

"Got a hold on the balloon," said Laura. "Just easing them…"

Suddenly there was another loud rumble and a jet of boiling lava shot up around the balloon and Thunderbird 1. The Hardings screamed as the basket caught fire on one side. Flames also began to appear on the canopy.

"Laura, come in, what's happening?!" Daniel asked urgently.

"Uggh, lava blast!" Laura replied. "I'm moving them out before…"

SNAP! Two of the guide rope connecting the canopy to the basket had snapped the basket was hanging by a thread over the volcano. Bart and Lisa almost fell out but Homer and Marge grabbed them just in time.

"Guys, hang on!" Laura called. She fired up Thunderbird 1's engines and lifted them clear of the crater before racing forwards just as the volcano exploded in a massive fireball. The shockwave was heard and felt for miles around and the crews aboard Thunderbird 2 and the Octopus saw the huge column of black smoke rising high into the air like a mushroom cloud.

Thunderbird 1 raced away from the island dragging the balloon behind it. Most of the basket was on fire now and another cable had snapped. The canopy was almost half covered in flames too.

"Laura, stop!" Kerry shouted. "The basket's going to give way! You have to set them down in the water!"

"F-A-B!" Laura replied. She quickly brought Thunderbird 1 to a halt so that the balloon was now directly underneath. She knew the frightened family wouldn't be able to hear her so she got out of her seat and jumped down with her jetpack. "Okay, guys, listen to me! You're going to have to jump into the sea! Pass me the baby."

"NO!" cried Marge hugging Maggie tightly. "You're too late, we're going to die!"

"No, you're not!" said Laura sternly. "Give me the baby, now!"

Homer snatched Maggie out of Marge's hands and passed her to Laura. "YOU HEARD HER!" he shouted. "JUMP!"

Lisa and Bart wasted no time in scrambling over the one remaining side of the basket which wasn't on fire and jumping into the water which was about ten metres below. Homer grabbed Marge and practically threw her over the side before jumping over himself. He was just in time as the basket was now completely ablaze. Laura moved herself and Maggie away and remotely released the cable from Thunderbird 1. The craft moved aside just as the fuel in the balloon's hot-air generator ignited. The whole balloon exploded and dropped down into the water. Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa managed to swim clear just as it landed close by.

Thunderbird 2 had now arrived on the scene. Daniel brought the craft into a hover before Daniel lowered the lifting chairs down from the nose. Leanna was attached to the side of the chairs ready to help the Hardings into them. Laura used her jetpack to take Maggie up to the top of Thunderbird 2 where Rosie was waiting on the cockpit elevator to take the baby off her hands.

More explosions were erupting out from Krakatoa. The clouds of smoke were starting to make the sky dark as the balloon lay burning on the surface of the sea. Laura remotely brought Thunderbird 1 over to where she was and quickly jetted back inside before hurrying back to her seat. The two Thunderbirds then turned and raced away from the island as fast as they could.

Leanna helped the Hardings out of the chairs once they were safely aboard Thunderbird 2, but Marge was still in a state of panic. "Where's my baby! WHERE'S MY BABY!" she screamed.

The sound of a baby crying came from nearby and Rosie entered carrying Maggie in her arms. "Here you go," she said handing Maggie over to her.

Marge broke down in tears of joy and began kissing Maggie several times. She did however manage to stop long enough to say "Thank you" to Rosie and Leanna before they left the family to be alone together.

"Mission complete!" said Daniel. "Well done, Thunderbird 1. We'll drop our passengers off at their hotel. See you back home."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 2," Laura replied happily.

The two Thunderbirds raced past the _Octopus_ and were greeted with another chorus of cheers and claps from the crew. All three ships were well on their way to leave the Sunda Strait as the skies above were blackened out by thick ash clouds from Krakatoa. After so many years of being dormant, the mighty volcano was awake once more.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Captain Cross said to Matthews."

"Indeed, sir," Matthews replied. "You know we never did find out what was inside the _Brisbane_."

"Doesn't matter," Captain Cross replied. "We got our sub, crew and Dr Grant back safely. That's all that matters. We'll just have to come back when the volcano has quietened down again."

The two men stayed and watched the smoking Krakatoa, which still had big explosions erupting out from it, as they sailed as fast as the _Octopus_ could go to get to safety. At least now it could no longer be a threat to them.

* * *

Dr Grant and Dr Sattler were in their cabin. Dr Grant was still unwell after being stuck in Nemo for so long. "I'll tell you this now, Ellie," he was saying. "I am never getting in one of those things again."

"Oh, Alan, nobody could have predicted that this would happen," Dr Sattler said. "You really shouldn't criticise the crew and vessels just because you're not keen on them."

Dr Grant lay back on his bed. his face was slightly green. "Could you get me some water, please?" he asked.

Dr Sattler nodded and went to get him some. She didn't like to see him in this state, but she was glad to have him back.

* * *

"NOOOO!" wailed the driver as he tugged at the handcuffs securing him to the front bumper of the upturned dustcart. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE!"

"That's just 'ard luck, mate," teased Parker as Penelope climbed into the back of FAB1. He then climbed into the driver's seat and they headed off into the night. No sooner had they gone when the flashing lights of Police Cars appeared back down the road accompanied by the sirens.

"Roman Sionis," said Penelope as they headed back to Creighton Manor. "Can't say I've ever heard of him. Have you, Parker?"

"No, m'lady, h'I 'aven't," Parker replied. "But if you h'ask me, 'e sounds h'American."

"You'd best ask your contacts for information," said Penelope. "I can't think why an American gangster would want to come over to target our banks for but he must have a reason."

"Yus, m'lady," said Parker. "And when we 'ave the information, what course of h'action should we take?"

"Good question," said Penelope. "Those guys of him were certainly tough. I think it might be an idea if we get some back-up beforehand."

"Mrs Samson?" asked Parker.

"I could see if Betsy, Mar or maybe Monica are available," said Penelope. "But, I do have an idea who we should ideally have as our back-up. I'll call Daniel when we get home."

"Ah!" said Parker. He now knew who Penelope was thinking of asking. "That is h'excellent thinking, m'lady."

* * *

Thunderbird 1 went straight back to Tracy Island with Thunderbird 2 making a detour to drop the Harding family off. They arrived back home about thirty minutes after where they found Laura with Beth and Adrienne around the piano. Beth was playing a tune.

"Wow, Beth, that's incredible!" remarked Wizzy. "Did you make that up?"

"Partly," replied Beth. "But I had a little help." She looked up at Laura who grinned.

"You need to play that to Virgil next time he's over," said Katie.

"Agreed," said Daniel as he sat at his desk. "We're in need of another music night."

"Do you think he'll like it?" asked Adrienne.

"He'd better," Laura replied. "Beth and I have been working on this idea for a few weeks now!"

Leanna and Wizzy collapsed on the sofa whilst Katie went over to the piano.

Joanne came in with some drinks. "Here you go," she said. "I trust the family are okay?"

"Yeah, they'll be fine," said Daniel. "Rather shaken-up but then that's only to be expected in a situation like that."

"What about the people in the speedboat and submersible?" Joanne went on.

"The _Octopus_ crew were taking the two men back to their station," said Daniel. "As for the crew in the submersible, I don't think Dr Grant will be going down in one again."

Jodie chuckled. "Oh, dear, poor Alan," she remarked. "He's never been a fan of subs."

"Seems you two have something in common, Jodie," teased Wizzy.

Jodie frowned. "Hey, I've been in Thunderbird 4 with you before!" she said.

"Yes, but your skin was rather pale whilst we were down there," Wizzy said cheekily.

The sound of fast footsteps could be heard from outside the lounge. "Uh-oh, incoming!" Daniel remarked. He turned his chair just as Cassidy came charging into the room followed by Sian. They were having a race to see who'd get to him first.

"I WIN!" yelled Cassidy as she jumped onto Daniel's lap.

"OOF!" Daniel remarked. "Christ, you're getting heavy, aren't you!"

"Cassidy, go easy on him!" scolded Joanne, but Cassidy was too busy hugging Daniel's waist to pay attention.

"It's not fair," grumbled Sian. "She always wins!"

"You won about three weeks ago," said Daniel, grinning as he rubbed his hand on Cassidy's back. Even though they weren't his children, he still occasionally treated them like they were. After all, they had no father anymore so to them he was the closest they had. It was the same with Leanna, although that was slightly different as Daniel was her godfather.

The room fell quiet whilst they listened to the sweet soft music that Beth was playing. It was so soothing in fact that Cassidy fell asleep on Daniel with her head up against his chest. This made his attempts to write up the rescue report a little more challenging than it normally was but he didn't mind. He could always finish it later on. Wizzy laid herself down across Leanna's lap and they soon dozed off as well. Sian went off with Joanne whilst Rosie and Jodie had a quiet conversation in the corner of the lounge so as not to disturb them.

However, the peace didn't last long as the sound of an incoming radio call filled the room.

"Oh, here we go again," remarked Adrienne.

But to everyone's surprise, it wasn't Kerry who was calling – it was Penelope.

"Penny!" said Daniel. "Nice surprise. How are you?"

"Busy as ever, Daniel," replied Penelope. "I see you've got your hands full," she added looking at Cassidy.

"Hey, Lady Penelope," said Cassidy giving a small wave without lifting her head off Daniel's chest.

"I think she's been eating cake," Daniel said with a mischievous grin. "I'm sure she wasn't as heavy as this last time…" His voice trailed off as he noticed Cassidy's head had slowly turned to look up at him. "Beep!" he said pinching her nose.

"Ow!" Cassidy said as the other girls laughed.

"Anyway, Penny," Daniel went on, "is this a business call or pleasure?"

"Business, I'm afraid," said Penelope. "I need to borrow someone."

The girls all looked at Penelope with minor excitement.

"What's that, Penelope?" asked Laura coming round from behind the piano. "You need one of us? If so, I can help."

"Thanks, Laura," Penelope replied. "But actually I need a specifically skilled person for this job."

Everyone looked at each other, puzzled. They all had specific skills, although they didn't all share the same ones.

"Who did you have in mind?" asked Daniel.

"This is a covert ops assignment," said Penelope. "I need Karolina. That's if you don't mind?"

"Covert Ops is her middle name," said Daniel. "One second." He pressed a button on the desk, rather awkwardly due to Cassidy being there.

"Hello?" a rather sleepy voice answered over the radio.

"Sorry to wake you, Karolina," Daniel said. "May have a job for you. Or rather, Lady Penelope might have."

"I'll be right there, Mr Tracy," Karolina yawned and signed off.

Daniel looked back at Penelope's hologram. "What's the mission?" he asked.

"American gangster by the name of Roman Sionis," Penelope explained. "He's been using a London Refuse Company as the means of robbing banks with dustcarts."

"Different," Daniel remarked. "Although probably not the best vehicle for a getaway. Dustcarts aren't fast."

"Or easy to hide," agreed Joanne. "A racing dustcart would stick out far too easily."

"I hope they're not keeping the money in washing-machines," Daniel said.

There was silence as everyone began to give him looks, but then Karolina entered the room. "I'm here, Mr Tracy," she said.

"And just in time," remarked Laura.

Karolina looked at Laura, puzzled. But Penelope spoke up. "Hello, Karolina," she said. "How would you like to help Parker and myself bring down an American gangster?"

Karolina blinked. "You're in America?" she asked.

"No, he's decided to come and try his luck over in England," said Penelope. "And whilst I have no objection to foreign visitors to this country, I do object to them bringing their criminal empires over. There are too many criminals in this country as there is."

Karolina considered the offer. Things had been very quiet regarding The Hood lately and she hadn't done much except fly Thunderbird 7 around on perimeter patrols. She looked at Daniel. "May I, Mr Tracy?" she asked.

Daniel nodded. "Well seeing as things have been quiet for you lately, yes," he said. "When will you be needing her, Penny?"

"Preferably tomorrow," said Penelope. "We do have a possible lead on where Sionis is operating. You can come when you're ready, Karolina."

Karolina smiled. "I come straight away," she said. "The longer he there the more banks he can rob."

"Good point," agreed Penelope. "Come to Creighton Manor first of all, Karolina, then we can make our plans."

"F-A-B," said Karolina.

"Over and out," said Penelope and she signed off.

Karolina turned back to Daniel. "Are you sure you're happy with this, Mr Tracy," she asked. "I know you're not overly keen on these things."

"Personally I rather prefer not to get involved with these kinds of things," Daniel said. "I'd rather that Penny didn't keep getting herself into these kinds of scraps. But this man sounds dangerous and needs to be dealt with so I will allow it."

Karolina smiled. "Thank you, Mr Tracy," she said. "I'll get going."

As Karolina left the room, Cassidy looked up at Daniel. "You were saying?" she said.

"Was I?" he asked.

The girls suddenly looked tense.

"Cassidy…" said Laura. "Don't you dare tempt him!"

Daniel was looking confused. "Tempt me what?" he asked.

"You said about money in Washing-Machines?" Cassidy said.

"Ohhhhh!" said Daniel. "Money-laundering!"

The groaning was heavy in the Tracy Lounge that evening.


End file.
